BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 225
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: nestande
VERSION: 5/9/13
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 25, 2013
SUBJECT:
Medium-speed vehicles
DESCRIPTION:
This bill defines medium-speed vehicles and makes them legal to
operate on California's streets with speed limits of up to 45
miles per hour.
ANALYSIS:
Generally, in order for an owner to register a vehicle in
California and thus make it legal to operate on public streets
and highways, the vehicle must meet federal motor vehicle safety
standards for the appropriate class of vehicle. Also, under
both federal and state law, in order to sell a new vehicle, it
must meet the same federal standards.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is
the federal agency that establishes motor vehicle safety
standards. In 1988, it set safety standards for low-speed
vehicles, establishing a new class of vehicles that may operate
in controlled, low-speed environments.
Existing state and federal law defines a low-speed vehicle as a
motor vehicle that is 4-wheeled; can attain a speed of no more
than 25 miles per hour (MPH) on a paved, level surface; and has
a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 3,000 pounds.
Low-speed vehicles meet a specified subset of federal motor
vehicle safety standards.
Existing state law generally prohibits a driver from operating a
low-speed vehicle on any street or road with a speed limit in
excess of 35 MPH and authorizes local governments to restrict
AB 225 (NESTANDE) Page 2
further where low-speed vehicles may operate within their
jurisdictions.
This bill :
1.Defines "medium-speed electric vehicle" as a vehicle that:
Can attain a speed of no more than 45 MPH on a paved,
level surface;
Has a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 3,000
pounds;
Is propelled solely by an electric motor; and
Contains a vehicle identification number that meets
international standards.
1.Requires that medium-speed vehicles must meet the following
safety requirements:
Possess a fully enclosed passenger compartment with
rigid doors and safety windows;
Have a horn in good working condition that can emit a
sound audible from a distance of not less than 200 feet;
Meet selected federal motor vehicle safety standards;
and
Meet or exceed any safety standards for medium-speed
electric vehicles that the NHTSA adopts at some future
point within one year of the adoption of such standards.
1.Prohibits an operator of a medium-speed vehicle from exceeding
45 MPH in such a vehicle and from traveling on roadways with
speed limits in excess of 45 MPH.
2.Subjects medium-speed vehicles and their drivers to provisions
of state law applicable to motor vehicles and their drivers.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author introduced this bill to make medium-speed
vehicles legal in California, because these vehicles are more
energy efficient and less costly to purchase than passenger
cars. He notes that in the past few years many companies have
started building electric vehicles that look like small cars,
vans, and trucks but that are sold as low-speed vehicles,
because that is the only classification available. In
reality, these vehicles can travel faster than the 25 MPH
limit applied to low-speed vehicles. Some can go as fast as
50 MPH, but he asserts that all are significantly safer than
AB 225 (NESTANDE) Page 3
low-speed vehicles. The author believes that if California
creates a medium-speed vehicle classification it will
significantly expand the opportunities to employ electric
vehicles as replacements for internal combustion cars and
trucks for personal transportation and utility uses. The
result would be a highly beneficial impact on air quality,
particularly in urban areas, as well as a reduction in fossil
fuel consumption in California.
2.Unsafe at these speeds . In September 2008, the NHTSA denied
petitions from three makers of medium-duty vehicles to create
a new class of motor vehicle for their vehicles. In its
denial, NHTSA noted that medium-speed vehicles would be
subject to a set of safety standards greater than those that
apply to low-speed vehicles but substantially less than the
full set of safety standards that apply to passenger cars, as
is the case with this bill's authorization of these vehicles
in California. NHTSA stated in its denial that in contrast to
low-speed vehicles, the traffic environment in which
medium-speed vehicles would likely travel, including urban
roads with speed limits of 35 or 45 MPH, is an environment for
which the full set of federal motor vehicle safety standards
is needed to prevent fatalities and serious injuries. Simply
put, NHTSA concluded that medium-speed vehicles would result
in "significantly greater risk of deaths and serious
injuries."
3.Missing safety standards . This bill applies just a portion of
the federal motor vehicle safety standards for passenger
vehicles to medium-speed vehicles, including those related to
windshields, wipers, mirrors, lights, window glazing, brakes,
door locks, theft prevention, seat belts, roof crush
resistance, rollover prevention, and electric shock
prevention. The bill, however, does not apply any other
passenger vehicle standards, including those most related to
enabling the vehicle's occupants to survive an accident such
as standards requiring air bags and showings of crash
worthiness.
4.Environmental benefits . The petitioners that asked NHTSA to
establish a medium-speed vehicle class and the proponents of
this bill argue that medium-speed vehicles should be made
legal because of the environmental benefits they provide.
NHTSA disagreed and in its denial of the petitions pointed out
then that it was engaged in a rulemaking to significantly
increase mileage standards for passenger cars, a rulemaking
precipitated by California's adoption of tailpipe greenhouse
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gas emission standards (also known as the "Pavley I"
standards). NHTSA has since adopted these mileage standards,
plus a second set, which together will increase average fuel
efficiency to over 50 miles per gallon by 2025. Partly as a
result, we are now seeing all-electric vehicles that meet all
federal safety standards come to the market and become
increasingly affordable.
5.Other states . At least ten other states have authorized
medium-speed vehicles on their roads with speed limits of
either 35 MPH or 45 MPH. These states include Colorado,
Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon,
Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.
6.What about federal law ? It is unclear how these others states
have gotten around federal law's requirement that vehicle
manufacturers and dealers not make or sell vehicles unless
those vehicles comply with all applicable federal motor
vehicle safety standards. In its denial of the petitions on
medium-speed vehicles, NHTSA noted that this requirement is
not limited by state laws on medium-speed vehicles. It's
unclear, therefore, whether this bill, if enacted, would
actually make medium-speed vehicles legal in California or
not.
7.Drafting issues . This bill includes a number of drafting
errors, which make its meaning and intent unclear. Among these
are:
Division 1 of the Vehicle Codes includes definitions
relevant to the code, including the definition of low-speed
vehicles. The definition of medium-speed vehicles in this
bill is not in Division 1, but should be moved there.
In order to avoid overlap with the definition of
motorcycles, the definition of medium-speed vehicles should
include that the vehicle must have four wheels.
On page 3, delete line 17, insert "A", as it is a
reference to laws governing the very limited instances in
which golf carts are allowed on streets and highways, but
is not applicable to medium-speed vehicles.
Existing law governing low-speed vehicles gives local
governments the authority to restrict where those vehicles
can travel within a city or county. This bill makes no
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similar provision for medium-speed vehicles.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 66-0
Appr: 17-0
Trans: 12-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 19,
2013.)
SUPPORT: Alvarez Jaguar
Coachella Valley Economic Partnership
Light Electric Vehicle Association
City of Palm Desert
City of Riverside
One individual
OPPOSED: None received.